2 charged after police find portable meth lab near Hartly

A Hartly man was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine Thursday night after being stopped for a traffic violation.

Staff Reports

A Hartly man was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine Thursday night after being stopped for a traffic violation.

According to the Delaware State Police, troopers from the Kent County Drug Task Force were operating in the area of the Royal Farms on Halltown Road, east of Hartly around 11 p.m. when they stopped a Chevrolet pickup truck for a broken taillight.

The driver, William E. Crouch, 38, of Barclay, Md., failed to produce valid insurance on the truck. A computer inquiry of the vehicle's passenger, Dale A. Guilfoil, 50, of Hartly, revealed that he was wanted out of Troop 3 for burglary and other associated crimes, police said.

Guilfoil was taken into custody without incident and during a search was found to be in possession of approximately 1 gram of suspected methamphetamine.

Detectives then found component mixtures of the manufacturing stages of meth along with key ingredients in making the drug in the bed of the truck, police said.

Officers from DNREC were called to the scene to assist with dismantling the portable meth lab prior to the vehicle being towed.

Crouch and Guilfoil were transported back to Troop 3 in Camden. Crouch and Guilfoil were both charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, second-degree conspiracy, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia. Crouch was also charged for failure to have required insurance and improper tail lights. In addition, Guilfoil was charged with third-degree burglary, three counts of theft, third-degree conspiracy and third-degree criminal trespass.

The two were arraigned at JP Court 7. Crouch was released on $7,125 unsecured bond, while Guilfoil was committed to James T. Vaughn Correctional Center on $11,600 secured bond. His additional charges of burglary and theft stem from an incident that occurred in September when he entered into a garage on Winding Creek Road near Dover and removed old car parts and sold them to a Dover scrap yard for cash.

Hartly Road from Halltown Road to Judith Road was closed for approximately two hours as the meth lab was safely dismantled and removed from the vehicle, police said.